


Shock

by manicmanner



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Spoilers for 1.23
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-16
Updated: 2013-05-16
Packaged: 2017-12-12 01:37:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/805631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manicmanner/pseuds/manicmanner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The shock sinks in and you need a moment to breathe. </p><p>Gen. Oliver/Laurel mentioned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shock

The rest of the night was a blur. The EMTs swarmed the street and took charge of everyone that was visible, giving them all blankets and checking for any injuries. Police came and started searching through the ruined buildings for survivors. Laurel was only interested in one survivor. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the possibility that--

“Laurel.”

She snapped her head up from where it had been resting on the frame of the ambulance to see Oliver. From the strobe lighting she could tell his face was starting to swell around the edges and there were some cuts that had stopped bleeding, but those were the only imperfections that she could see. Laurel opened her mouth to ask how he got the injuries but thought better off it. After clearing her throat (it was sore from all of her screaming and crying earlier--), she tried again for words, but didn’t expect the, “Where were you?” that came out instead.

That question sounded so weak. It sounded like she was accusing Oliver of something, of what she didn’t know. Her ruined voice only added to the effect. Laurel wanted to take it back. It wasn’t fair to Oliver. It wasn’t fair to anyone. 

But, after that first flash of guilt, she didn’t care.

She saw how he tensed up and the emptiness inside of her only weighed her down more. It was strange, she had read about shock after events like this, even helped clients who worked their way through it, but it wasn’t the same as experiencing it herself. She was drifting and the one thing that had tethered her down during hard times was--

Laurel looked at Oliver, the man she had lost and found so many times since he had come back, and didn’t know what to say. 

She shook her head. “Oliver, Tommy’s gone, isn’t he?”

She looked everywhere but at her lover and the collapsed ruins of the police department. She knew what he was here to tell her. Her father had been drafted to help clear the area. Everyone had been asked to help, except for her. She had been left alone with her thoughts.

Oliver didn’t make a sound when he sat beside her. The silence between them stretched out for what seemed like ages, and Laurel almost wanted it to stay that way. 

“Yeah, he’s gone,” came the soft answer.

Nothing. Laurel was numb.

Oliver’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, dragging her closer to him. She could feel the warmth of his body through the thin blanket the EMTs had wrapped her in. She could smell the wreckage of the city and the sourness of his sweat from where her head had tipped onto his shoulder. But even with all of that physical evidence that said he was there with her, he felt like he was miles away. Just like she was miles away from him. 

They sat there in the darkness and watched the city try to patch itself back together.

**Author's Note:**

> Fantastic episode last night, although it left me heartbroken. But it'll be interesting where we'll be going from here.
> 
> Cheers.


End file.
